For a few weeks, it seemed that American Idol’s David Archuleta could do no wrong in the eyes of audiences and judges alike. For sure, we thought we were looking at a shoo-in for the win in the golden-throated boy wonder.

But over the last few weeks (ever since Simon made the “gloomy” remark about David’s performance of Another Day in Paradise, has anyone else noticed?),David has been missing lyrics, making poor song choices, and generally underwhelming the judges, andanother David has been honing in on Archuleta’s turf — rocker David Cook.

In a recent interview, Idol judge Simon Cowell admitted that Cook has been singing in a league of his own. Cook, who has been unafraid to take risks by singing daring song arrangements that best suit his style, has been mesmerizing audiences as he just seems to get better and better every week. Cowell asserts thatCook’s latest performance of Billie Jean (whichhadRandy raving, Paula stuck in a standing position, andCowellcalling “awesome”) was so far better than the rest of the competitors it made some of their performances, in Cowell’s words,”seem ridiculous.”

Cowell also reveals that he’s been a bit relieved to see David Cook’s performances improve, as he was worried that this season would be a “coronation for David Archuleta,” with the only real competition being for second place behind him. With Cook’s recent successes, Cowell surmises, he could take the win yet.